<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>ONE DAY (We will stand up) by needsomethingtodoworld</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26899066">ONE DAY (We will stand up)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/needsomethingtodoworld/pseuds/needsomethingtodoworld'>needsomethingtodoworld</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alex and Willie and happy, Alex writes a song, Bisexual Julie Molina, Canon Gay Character, Gen, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, inspired by a tumblr post, luke and reggie are briefly in this, no beta we die like alex luke and reggie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:47:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,217</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26899066</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/needsomethingtodoworld/pseuds/needsomethingtodoworld</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by a tumblr post by @incorrect-jatp-quotes where Alex wrote a song in the nineties about being queer and then Bobby stole it and it became this gay anthem. Alex hears julie listening to it and he realizes that he wrote it. :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex &amp; Julie Molina, Alex &amp; Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>394</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>ONE DAY (We will stand up)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hehe this kinda sucks sry inspired by @incorrect-jatp-quotes on tumblr :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Alex leaned his head into Willie's lap and spun a drumstick in front of his boyfriend's face. His </span>
  <em>
    <span>boyfriend</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He still couldn't wrap his head around about people being so out and proud of about being gay or trans or any of the other widely accepted labels. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"When you drop that thing on your face, I'm gonna laugh," Willie teased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex made eye contact with him and started to spin it faster. He dropped it on his nose and glared at Willie when they both broke out in laughter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two looked up from each other when they heard the garage open. Julie opened the door dancing around to music in her headphones. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey, Alex and Willie," she said, still dancing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How'd you know Willie was here? Or who he is in the first place?" Alex asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Reggie told me about him. How you were head over heels in love with some ghost you ran into, and I know he's here because you're leaning in a way people can't." Wille snickered and Julie unplugged her music from her headphones and let it quietly play while Willie smiled at Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Head over heels, huh?" he teased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Shut up," Alex responded, leaning back onto his lap. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie moved Alex's head before he could protest. Worried that he did something wrong, he got up and followed Willie across the room. Willie picked up a dry erase board and marker and wrote </span>
  <em>
    <span>I love this song </span>
  </em>
  <span>on the board.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie smiled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry Alex, it's Trevor- Bobby," she corrected, "But I'm pretty sure it's actually original. And it's a bop."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex looked to Willie for clarification. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's a good song," Willie whispered. Alex nodded and looked back at Julie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex heard the playful drum beat and a few words and thought he recognized the tune. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What song is it?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's called "ONE DAY" in all caps," Willie and Julie said at the same time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Why all caps?" Alex wondered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I don't know, aesthetic I guess. But listen to it! It's like a gay anthem." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex listened to the lyrics carefully, mentally scanning them over. He recognized them, which was weird because he had never heard the song before. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>One day we'll stand up, fly our flags, happily ever after-</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was annoying. He knew the lyrics and the beat and the song left the faintest trace of recognition on him. It didn't sound like something Bobby would write. Bobby was more about the flair rather than heartfelt words.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie, sensing the confusion, quickly googled the song and tapped the first link. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A YouTube video popped up with a rainbow background and words in a cartoonish seventies-style font. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie was right. It did sound very open and queer. It still irked him that he couldn't place where he had heard it before. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"'The stand up, fly our flags' part- y'know like pride flags, and then the 'you make me wanna stand up next to you,' that's like being so in love with someone you're willing to like- protest and stand up for rights so you can be with them," Willie explained. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's the song that inspired me to come out to my dad," Julie said shyly, which surprised Alex a little. Of course, he had seen the pride bracelet around her wrist (he had one of his own) but it came as a surprise nonetheless. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly the pieces were flying together and then Alex was standing in his family's old living room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>I don't want a gay son," his dad had shouted.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>I'm sorry," Alex pleaded.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"If you were sorry you wouldn't be like this," he spat. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Like it was something he could choose. His dad had no idea how many times he had cried, begged himself to be </span>
  </em>
  <span>normal</span>
  <em>
    <span>. To grow up, have a normal American-pie life, and to not be a disappointment to his family. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex remembered that night like it was yesterday. His father's words still echoed in his mind, a song stuck in his head. He had run away that night. Packed a bag and never looked back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And that night he sat down and wrote a song. It wasn't his first, it wasn't his last. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He wrote about the boy he liked in his class and he wrote about everything he feared. Everything about him poured out onto the paper everything his parents thought was wrong with him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luke and Reggie found him in the morning, surrounded by crumpled notebook pages with red eyes and a duffel bag stuffed full. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He murmured out a quick "Sorry" before being wrapped up in a giant group hug. It was nice to be hugged.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Do you want to talk about it?" Luke whispered. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"They kicked me out," Alex whispered. "I told them and they kicked me out."</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex smiled at the memory. Not because it was a good one, because it definitely wasn't. Because it was over. Because he had a family that was one hundred percent supportive, and he had a boyfriend that he was just a little bit in love with. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He giggled and Julie and Willie turned and smiled at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I wrote that song," he said through a smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"So you're telling me I've been singing along to that song for </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span> not knowing that my boyfriend wrote it!" Willie laughed. He hugged Alex, and Alex leaned into him, which probably looked weird to Julie. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What Julie said was a lot simpler, but just as meaningful. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you," </span>
  </em>
  <span>she whispered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stepped forward and hugged Alex. He smiled, knowing that he had found his family. The three stayed like that for a minute before Julie stepped back and said, "Bobby got all the credit being for being a 'gay icon' for writing a song he stole." She paused and grabbed her notebook and a pencil. "So we are going to write one too. One that helps people accept who they are and teaching people that who they love is not a problem! Bobby didn't mean to write a queer-coded song! We will!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie grabbed his dry-erase marker and wrote on the board: </span>
  <em>
    <span>you guys should perform at Pride :) </span>
  </em>
  <span>(The smiley face was just for good measure, as Julie couldn't see him.) </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Willie, you are a genius!" Julie shouted. Alex was excited as well, still new to the idea of Pride. Willie had only explained it last week, and it still sounded imaginary. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They spent the rest of the afternoon cuddled up on the couch, Alex writing another song, with Julie and Willie inputting various notes, lyrics, and beats. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the end of the night, Alex smiled to himself. It was okay to be gay here. It sounded like something from a fantasy world. There were songs, a parade, and people could be who they were. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie had gone to eat dinner at that point, Alex and Willie elected to stay in the studio. They were both half-asleep on the couch when Alex said,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Hey, Willie?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Mhm?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thank you." For what, Alex barely knew. For being there for him, for teaching him about the twenty-first century, helping them out, and for so much more. He leaned over and kissed him. "I love you," he said, barely above a whisper. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex had finally found someone he would stand up with, and for that, he felt like he was flying.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>please leave kudos/a comment! it would rly make my day 🥺. i might write smth about them at playing at pride idk. ok funny story i procrastinated writing this by writing the song that alex would have written in the nineties? so there's that. hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>